Frieda, the Indian peacock!

Freida Pinto, who had earlier said, “I am too young to wear a sari!”, wore an electric blue John Galliano outfit for the Oscar night, a choice that got mixed response from Indian designers.

“As far as I know, she chose the dress herself,” said Anjana Bhargav. “It was a spontaneous decision. She carried it off well and the inky blue colour, the hair, the earrings, the package looked good. Let’s give it to her for her first spontaneous red-carpet outfit.”

Puja Nayyar was less impressed. “Galliano doesn’t cease to surprise us with his mind-blowing creations, but this one was a dampener,” she felt. “Even the embroidery wasn’t good. I feel Rohit Bal would have done a far better job.” Gaurav Gupta thought, “It was chic and nice, but there is always scope for improvement.” However, he is happy that “at least, she didn’t wear a predictable black or a red taffeta gown”.

Ravi Bajaj felt the dress “was not appealing enough”. Nikhil Mehra of the Shantanu & Nikhil label also thought that Freida looked “drab” on her big night out. “The colour is pretty but the layering is not exciting. She is an actress from India and her outfit should represent the exuberance of the country.”

However, Suneet Varma thought the gown was chic and that Frieda was “our Indian peacock in blue”.